Episode II: Rise of the Empire, Session 1

Tonight's session, the first of Episode II: Rise of the Empire, opened above the ocean planet of Aquilae. A small Republic shuttle approached under the cover of night, descending to a landing platform outside one of Aquilae's archipelago cities, and discharged its passengers: Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his apprentice Anakin Skywalker. The two attempted a covert entrance into the city, but were soon stopped by Aquilae's Governor Tarkin. The governor warned Kenobi and Skywalker about meddling in Aquilaean affairs, and said that even though the Jedi were not yet completely outlawed, he would be keeping a close watch on them. Before they parted, Tarkin also dropped one more piece of information: the Supreme Chancellor would be visiting Aquilae to oversee their operations, and security would be heightened as a result.

Meanwhile, in an Aquilaean cantina nearby, BL3K and Janos Creel relaxed while waiting for word from Princess Mina Organa. As they waited, a group of clone troopers approached their table, and their leader, a veteran clone called Victor Ort of the 13th Legion, stopped to speak with Captain Creel. Commander Ort warned Creel to stay clear of Aquilae, and advised him to blast off as soon as possible, as he had word that trouble was coming. The commander also took the opportunity to needle Janos about being a cyborg and no longer a member of the 13th Legion, then left Creel wondering what trouble might be afoot. No sooner had the clone trooper left than Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi entered the cantina. The four exchanged greetings for the first time in over three years, and very quickly discovered that their efforts might be at odds with one another: Anakin and Obi-Wan being there to take her back to Alderaan, and BL3K and Janos there to assist her in escaping Aquilae once her mission was done. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the two pairs stepped out onto the street to go their separate ways.

On the streets of the city, however, a purposeful chaos had taken hold. Hundreds of clone troopers flowed through the streets, heading toward the city's center. A quick interrogation of the clones revealed that Princess Mina and a contingent of Bothan agents were cornered inside the cloning labs beneath the ocean outside of the city, and the clones were tightening a net around the insurgents so as to capture them. Janos and Bleak opted to head toward one of the highest rooftops to disable the anti-aircraft guns that might keep the princess from escaping, while the two Jedi hopped in a stolen landspeeder, blasted through a barricade, and zoomed into the connecting tubes that run under the surface of the water and connect the cities together.

While Anakin dodged blaster fire in the speeder and Obi-Wan deflected the errant bolt that would have otherwise struck the vehicle, Bleak and Janos emerged on the rooftop to find four clone troopers, one of which was manning a massive anti-aircraft cannon. They quickly dispatched the troopers, and, thanks to some quick computer programming by Bleak, disrupted communications between the rest of the anti-aircraft cannons, effectively knocking out the Republic's air defense network. With R2-D2 in tow, the descended back through the building and headed for the Star Phoenix.

After zooming through the transparent cylinders connecting the Aquilaean cities, the speeder containing the two Jedi emerged into a massive cloning complex, at the center of which Princess Mina and a shrinking group of Bothans held off clone trooper fire. Anakin raced through the hail of blaster fire to bring the landspeeder up close to the Princess, who warned them to get away, informing them that she had her own escape plan. She pulled out a breathing mask and pulled it over her head just as a submersible vehicle blasted out the floor of the cloning lab. With the water rushing in and the cloning lab quickly disintegrating, Obi-Wan struggled to get the Princess into the speeder against her will. At that moment, the blue beam of a stun bolt stuck the Princess, knocking her unconscious. As Obi-Wan finished putting her into the speeder, the clone trooper who shot the Princess casually dropped a thermal detonator on the ground and then jumped, rolling down the stairs and vaulting into the back of the speeder; the helmet came off, and underneath was the Falleen agent Zythe, who warned Anakin to make haste. The speeder blasted its way out the far side of the cloning lab as the thermal detonator went off, and almost immediately the outside pressure collapsed the rest of the lab, crushing it. Water raced through the tunnel behind the speeder, and Anakin just managed to goose the landspeeder through the iris of a closing blast door that sealed behind them, keeping them from being drowned by the cold oceans of Aquilae.